The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for enhancing safety and/or security in potentially dangerous situations. More particularly, some of these embodiments are directed to addressing safety and/or security issues, such as those issues involving or otherwise related to emergencies in facilities.
Unfortunately, violent incidents in or around schools in the United States, including shootings, have been a regular occurrence for decades. Over the 40 years preceding the Apr. 20, 1999, Columbine, Colo. mass shooting, more than 150 students and staff members were killed in U.S. school related shooting incidents. More disturbingly, in just the 14 years since Columbine, over 114 school shootings have resulted in the deaths of more than 190 students and staff members. The incidences of shootings at other facilities, such as hospitals, malls, movie theaters, post offices, and other government/military instillations, have also significantly increased over the past several years.
The internet's free flow of information, copycats, dissemination and ease in obtaining guns, limitations of our mental health institutions, and the lack of jobs in the economy, all operate to increase the propensity of more shootings, including mass shootings. The magnitude of this threat is tremendous based on the large number of potential targets. For example, the United States has over 132,000 public and private K-12 schools, over 4,400 colleges and universities, and over 117,000 daycare facilities.